Matt Munro
A particularly tourist-friendly region, thanks to its strong expatriate connections with the UK and Canada, Punjab, the homeland of India’s Sikh population, provides a wonderful opportunity to go traipsing into the backyards of North India. The Golden Temple in Amritsar is an undoubted highlight, but Punjab hides other small treasures among its agricultural expanses. Rarely visited towns like Patiala, Bathinda and Faridkot contain seemingly lost-in-time marketplaces and crumbling forts that hint at faded grandeur, while welcoming gurdwaras (Sikh temples) are to be found across the state.
Irrigated by mighty Himalayan rivers such as the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej, Punjab is also a region of fertile land that supplies the bulk of India's demand for wheat and rice, while also doubling as a nerve centre of India's textile and manufacturing industries.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Punjab (India).
Sikh Temple
The legendary Golden Temple is actually just a small part of this huge gurdwara complex, known to Sikhs as Harmandir Sahib. Spiritually, the focus of attention is the tank that surrounds the gleaming central shrine – the Amrit Sarovar, from which Amritsar takes its name, excavated by the fourth Sikh guru, Ram Das, in 1577. Ringed by a marble walkway, the tank is said to have healing powers, and pilgrims come from across the world to bathe in its sacred waters.
Fort
Of all the ruined forts in Punjab, Bathinda’s Govindgarh is the mightiest and most impressive. It’s also the oldest, dating way back to the 7th century, although rebuilt in its current red-brick form during the 12th century. It’s an enormous structure, located bang in the middle of the city, and an unexpected highlight of a visit to this region. The fort’s 36m-tall, 6m-thick walls tower over the old city bazaars and – best of all – can be freely explored.
Lake
Spiritually, the focus of attention within the Golden Temple Complex is the tank that surrounds the gleaming central shrine. Known as the Amrit Sarovar, from which Amritsar takes its name, it was excavated by the fourth Sikh guru Ram Das in 1577. Ringed by a marble walkway, the tank is said to have healing powers, and pilgrims come from across the world to bathe in its sacred waters.
Gate
Every afternoon Indian and Pakistani border guards meet at the border post between Attari and Wagah to engage in a 30-minute display of military showmanship that verges on pure theatre. Officially, the purpose of the ceremony is to lower the national flag and formally close the border for the night, but what actually occurs is a bizarre mix of pseudo-formal and competitive marching, flag-folding, chest beating, forceful stomping and almost comical high-stepping. Bring your passport.
Sikh Site
At the southeast end of the Golden Temple Complex is the Guru-Ka-Langar, an enormous dining room where an estimated 100,000 pilgrims come to eat every day after praying at the Golden Temple. There’s no charge to eat here, but a donation is appropriate, and voluntary help with the staggering pile of washing up is always appreciated. Catering equally to everyone from paupers to millionaires, it's a humbling demonstration of the Sikh principles of hospitality, community service and charity.
Fort
The ancestral home of the maharajas of Patiala, this richly ornamented 18th-century fort is an Arabian Nights fantasy of soaring buttresses and latticed balconies. You can’t enter the interior of the fort, but you are allowed to walk between the hugely impressive inner and outer walls, surrounded by crumbling masonry and flocks of parakeets. The fort is 2km south of the bus stand, hidden in amongst a web of old-town bazaars; ₹30 in a cycle rickshaw.
Museum
Graced by two wedding-cake towers and an ornamental suspension bridge, Sheesh Mahal is one of Punjab's more striking buildings. Inside the lavishly decorated interior is a gallery displaying royal treasures including paintings, coins and various finely crafted objects of art. The tree-shaded parks fronting the mansion boast exquisite marble statues, including a larger-than-life 1903 sculpture of Queen Victoria by British sculptor Francis Derwent Wood. It's 2.5km south of the fort (cycle rickshaw ₹40); 4km south of the bus stand (₹70 to ₹80).
Museum
Hidden beneath the marble square outside the clock-tower entrance to the Golden Temple, this fascinating multimedia museum tells the story of Sikhism and the significance of the Golden Temple through four entertaining 15-minute videos projected onto first an inverted pyramid, then a 180-degree cinema, then a screen above a 3D scale model of the temple and finally on a screen inside a shrine-like room. Showings start every hour, just past the hour. Swap your photo ID for an English-translation headset.
Hindu Temple
Credited with fertility-improving powers, this fascinating labyrinthine Hindu temple commemorates the 20th-century female saint Lal Devi. From the main hall, a narrow series of stairways and passages winds past mirrored mosaics, fairground-style carvings and untold deity statues to a semisubmerged mock-up of the Vasihno Devi cave temple. Walking west along GT Rd, turn right after the train station, up Albert Rd, then take the first left and the temple will be to your left at the end of the lane.